Crown Princess/Archduchess Stephanie

[Adagietto]

Stephanie with her count:

I find this a touching photgraph somehow, and hope they were happy together; she obviously had a pretty miserable time at the Austrian court.  It has been said above that the marriage was in fact a happy one. Can anyone tell us anything more about the matter, and about this rather mysterious man?

I like this picture of Stephanie as the Countess Lonyay:


Her daughter Elisabeth and her count! That marriage was certainly no idyll. Although Elisabeth was somewhat prettier than her mother, she actually looks quite similar to her in her earlier photographs.

[Alixz]

Adageitto - Thank you for the beautiful photos.  Where did you find them?

Stephanie was not a beautiful woman, but she was not ugly either.  The only problem with most of her pictures is that she affects a look that suggests she just smelled something bad.

I like the second picture because it shows her with am earnest and out going look.

[Alix of Wales had Panache]

I mentioned in the books section that Gilbert's is having  a sale.

One of the books I picked up for about $17 USD is I was to be Empress.  I am almost finished.  It is interesting, but I'm glad I didn't pay more for it.

Stephanie was quite in love with herself and thought that everyone else was, too.  Throughout the book she "captures everyone's hearts" regardless of how boorish Rudolph is.



A picture of the 'beautiful" Arch Duchess Stephanie.

Sorry if this thread has gone but I was taken aback  seeing this picture *points up* . It's not her face or the pearls; it's what that fur trim is around her neck.  Makes her look like she's being eaten by a polar bear.

[Alixz]

That kind of "fur" was very popular on "tea gowns".  I don't know what it is in this picture, but you gave me a good laugh.  Thank you.

Stephanie just always looked as if she had smelled an evil drain odor.

But I do feel somewhat sorry for her.  She had a bad time in Austria.  Some of it was surely her own fault and a lot more was probably Rudolph's.

But neither made any effort to meet the other half way.  It certainly wasn't a "love match".

[Alix of Wales had Panache]

That kind of "fur" was very popular on "tea gowns".  I don't know what it is in this picture, but you gave me a good laugh.  Thank you.

Stephanie just always looked as if she had smelled an evil drain odor.

But I do feel somewhat sorry for her.  She had a bad time in Austria.  Some of it was surely her own fault and a lot more was probably Rudolph's.

But neither made any effort to meet the other half way.  It certainly wasn't a "love match".

Lol, evil drain odor or perhaps "a peasant" asking for water.
Felt sorry for Stephanie too.  Oh as far as her bearing further children all of it was Rudolph.   Glad to find out she had a good 2nd marriage.

[Alixz]

I have been on a mission to read more about Rudolph and Stephanie.

I read her autobiography I Was To Be Empress

Then I read The Road to Mayerling by Richard Barkley

Now I am struggling through A Hapsburg Tragedy by Judith Listowel  (I think I am on Hapsburg overload  :-) 

Barkley is very sympathetic to Rudolph.  Listowel is quite judgemental and openly says that  Rudolph had two STDs and was the cause of Stephanie's sterility as well as infecting her.  There was no penicillin and so no cure in the 1800s.

Stephanie's autobiography is, of course, very one sided in her favor.

Stephanie was not the right kind of wife for Rudolph.  He needed much more love and support than she could give him.  Also, she was a sexual innocent and very young when they married and was completely unprepared for their "wedding night".  (As were many of her contemporaries.)

Rudolph really needed the love and trust and support of his father and Franz Joseph was unable to give him that.

What I found interesting in Stephanie's autobiography was her mention of her Aunt Charlotte living in her insanity after Mexico and the death of Charlotte's husband Arch Duke Maximilian.

The fact that Charlotte had been married to a Hapsburg and the story of her life with Max seemed to have made no impression on Stephanie.  Charlotte was only the old addled aunt living in seclusion.

The Belgian Royal Family was a strange one.

But no one can research one royal family without "bumping" into another.  And so on and so on.

[Princess of Cupertino]

Hi,

I'm a newbee here. I'm always interested in reading Stephanie's memoir because I think she's the biggest victim of Meyerling. She has her faults however I'm very sympathetic to her. can you provide more info on her book since I can't find it anywhere in the US?

thanks

[Alixz]

Princess of Cupertino

Here is the link to Gilbert's Books.  They are in Toronto, Canada, but they have an extensive collection of books on European and Russian Royalty.  That is where I got I Was To Be Empress Crown Princess Stephanie's autobiography.

http://www.angelfire.com/pa/ImperialRussian/grb/list.html

[Norbert]

Theo Aronson  tells us that by 1879 Rudolf  had rejected a Spanish Infanta and a Saxon Princess whist Stephanie was on the list for Alfonso XII. The Emperor was eager to marry the boy off and you are right , there were few eligible Catholic Princesses.

[Alixz]

Norbert,

Which Aronson book did the information come from?  I love Theo Aronson and I have quite a few of his books, not none on Rudolph.

[ArchDss Louise-Henriette]

Rudolf & Stefanie

[Princess Susan]

Both photos are very nice. I don't remember, that I have seen them before. From which web side do you have it, if I may ask you?

[britt.25]

I'm no expert on Stephanie, but I would not have recognized her on the first picture that you sent. I thought her look (the eyes) is more open, more light (blue in contrary to her sisters), and she was slim and tender in her looks and in constitution. Are you sure this is her?

[Norbert]

Norbert,

Which Aronson book did the information come from?  I love Theo Aronson and I have quite a few of his books, not none on Rudolph.

Sorry Alixz i didn't see your message. It's in Capt 6  "The Coburgs of Belgium". Happy reading

[ArchDss Louise-Henriette]

Both photos are very nice. I don't remember, that I have seen them before. From which web side do you have it, if I may ask you?

Here's another pose of the second image ...

http://img382.imageshack.us/img382/3160/ararersbx0.jpg